CHF

It is as I thought. No definitive statement from either the player or the club until the talking is done and there is a resolution as such that looks to close the chapter. Keep in mind that the story has not been written or completed just the latest chapter. For a number of years now I have accepted that the AFL is a professional sport where the players have a limited time to maximise their earnings and set themselves up for their post playing lives. Accepting that I have to accept all that goes with it Including the last few weeks of discussion and conjecture about Petracca's future. It is the way it is. I also have to say that I support the MFC team and not just individual players. As with all of us, I have favorite players but it is the team I support. I think that there were faults on both sides of the table and in hindsight both sides would have handled it a bit differently. However, I take the statements from the club and the player at face value for the time being until words and actions tell me differently. I expect that the club and the player will act with professionalism from now, through the pre-season and into next season. No matter what Petracca might think or feel he will need to be ultra professional to get back to playing the standard of football he knows he is capable of. Either to get the MFC back into contention or to showcase his ability to potential suitors. I hope both sides take lessons from this and not 'learnings'. P.S. I would not be surprised to see Petracca spending more time operating out of the midfield next season than he did this last season.

I'm sorry... O do not understand. Kate doesn't know what? Kate answered the question regarding her contact with Petracca and his family. I do not believe she need to know of every contact that was made.

I respect that that is your interpretation of the reported events but that does not make it a reality.

No, I am not kidding you. Do we know what the situation was when Petracca was in ICU and who from the club was in touch with his family? I do not believe it was necessary for the club President to make the call.

I do not have any problem with the Roffey interview. She is President of the club and there are more than a few levels of management between her and the players that would come into play in the situation that Petracca found himself in after his injury. This is also true of the present situation with whatever is going on between the club and the player. There is the football department with the coaching staff, welfare staff and a whole lot of other people that would be the first line of contact when there are problems that need to be resolved and then there is the head of the football department and then a CEO, in this case Pert, that would be in line to be informed and step in to assist with resolution. To my mind, the President would be kept informed of the evolving situation but not have any hands on detailed role in resolving the situation. Once this whole thing plays out, I would, in Kate's position look for a detailed review of the handling of the whole thing from the time of the injury to the outcome what ever it is. I do not see this a an open public enquiry but rather a normal inhouse review of a extraordinary situation to ensure that the lessons are learnt. All that was said in this interview supports my thinking that both sides are being very careful about what first hand information is out in the public space so as to not burn bridges. That makes me think that the situation, at the moment is looked at by both sides as retrievable. That, over time can change. We all have to keep in mind that in the absence of first hand cold hard facts the football media will run with sensational storylines using imagination and projection and, dare I say it, random thoughts to build momentum into something that takes on a life of it's own. I would prescribe a Bex and a good lie down for a number of people posting on this. It is a long way from being resolved and you need to pace yourself.

A couple of my personal observations about the whole Petracca thing. We still have not had any clear communication from Petracca as to what the situation is from his perspective. I have read a lot of second hand comments from people that might or might not be correct and the different media have run with these second hand comments and drummed up a few sensational story lines. The only first hand comment we have had is from the MFC is that he is contracted and he will not be traded. Every now and then I hear snippets from within the club but on this I have not heard a peep. The way I read it is that there are problems between Petracca and the club. I have no idea what they are or if they can be resolved. However, I think it is significant that Petracca has not come out in public and said that he wants to leave the club. At this stage I do not think his management would want him to say that. They would realise that given his value to a team and a lack of viable options for a worthwhile trade, he cannot afford to burn his bridges with the MFC. If he did this I would back the club if they if they said "you are a contracted players and will either play fully committed football with us or sit out for as long as you are not prepared to do so." Last pre-season I thought it was a long way back for Oliver to win the trust and support of the club and the players. I think he has done well during the season to a point where he is getting back to being accepted once again. If Petracca stays on the list he will be in a similar position of having to win back the support and trust of the club and players. He is a great player and only adds to the team during the games. I would like to see him stay and regain the enjoyment he had playing for us.

Fair enough but I would still give him a run this week or next week to see how he reacts to the situation and to give him some clear incentive over the off season.

I would like to see Sestan given a run.

Melksham sub….. interesting call.

I am a supporter of Goodwin and think he has done a good job of developing the list and the players. Have all the trades worked out? No. Is Goodwin solely responsible for that? No. Looking at this season i do not see that the results are all his responsibility. A tough preseason with a couple of players injured and/or having issues, Brayshaw having the retire.... Critical injuries to critical players, It added up to a very tough year for the players and the coaching staff. I add to that an item that Goodwin and the coaching team are responsible for. I believe that they tried to adapt to the latest coaching/playing trends and on top of that, adjusted the game plan with what they thought was the next step in the development of those latest successful trends. It looks to me as if we are trying to control the ball movement much more than last season and this is leading to a much more static setup after a turnover. I think we might have coached the wrong structures this season. it may be that injuries have not helped the adoption of the new style of play that is required. I will be interested to see what is developed during the next preseason. In the last three games of this season I would like to see the team given more freedom to attack. Let them play a bit more instinctively. Still make them aware of the required fundamentals but give them licence to play with imagination and aggression. As for the players I would give Laurie a run for these last three games as well as getting a look at Jefferson and Sestan. We need to know what they could bring to the team.

Breakfast out of the way..... showered and shaved. Now waiting... waiting...waiting. I think we will give a good account of ourselves in this game but it will be close. Dees to just scrape home with a big finish in the last quarter. Go Dees!

None at all. It works well where I am in NW Europe.

Marvel is just that little bit closer to me....... 16,604.52 kms

Just checked on google maps and from my front door to the 'G' is 16,607.31kms. I did watch the whole bloody lot on my live stream. .... And have watched the replay a couple of times to work out what I saw. Is that a good enough excuse?

As William Wallace was once heard to remark.......

I've given up trying to predict selection and picking a team and giving my compelling reasons why I am 100% right and they should leave team selection to me. Having said that, the team this week, given the unavailables and injured, is about as good as we could put together.

It is not a matter of being pleased or displeased with the selections over the last two weeks. It was just a reflection of the reality of the results. Additionally, with regard to team selection, I do not believe that it is possible to please ALL of the people at any time.

Last week we gambled on selection and had a win... this week we also rolled the dice and lost. I think to walk (or fly) away from these last two games with 4 points given the loss of Petracca and Gawn is not a bad result. A few observations... a. It is foolish in hindsight to go into the season with no recognised back up ruck. We have bought in a couple of NQR talls/forward/rucks (?) that we wanted to develop and that has not worked out. Bad list management or bad luck? b. I would still like to have seen one of the talls given a run on Sunday so that we could have a look at them in context. c. With Brayshaw's medical retirement, Oliver's lack of a pre-season and Petracca's long term injury our midfield is very underpowered and badly structured. It looked like we did not do any research into the setup of Fremantle's mids at the bounce or stoppages. d. Given the lack of midfield cohesion and structure I find it difficult to be critical of either our Defence or Attack on Sunday. With no defensive pressure between the arcs from boundary to boundary, it was impossible for the defence to hold up. Similar for the forwards. No attacking structure through the middle gives the forwards, no clue as to where to lead or where the ball is going to arrive. e. One other observation. Our defensive team lead by May and Lever is still one of the best in the game not only during the game but also off field in driving the standards and culture of the club. Some of this might be down to Troy Chaplin, I am not certain to what degree. One thing I do find interesting is the way the players from the defence are finding their feet in other roles within the team. Petty and Turner in the forwards, Rivers and Salem as mid rotations. This development of role flexibility is critical to our future success and I hope that it continues. I am at an age where I have a hell of a lot more long and winding road behind me than open road in front. When I survey my journey as a MFC supporter over the years a couple of things stand out. Win the midfield and you win the game. Players that play with imagination and a smile are always my favorites. Anyway.... onward and upward to the next game.

the mousetrap worked to perfection.... well done Goodwin and co.

The mousetrap is working. so far... so good.

so far..... so good.

Goodwin and the selectors have come up with a cunning plan and believe they have built a better mousetrap. All we need now is for essendon to chase the cheese. Dees by a couple of goals.

Well, this selection has made the game a hell of a lot more interesting to watch. A lot of pressure on the midfield to step up and force turnovers. I feel that is going to be the key for us. Mildly confident about a win on Saturday evening. Go Dees!

Looking forward to seeing how we cover Max's absence. I don't see us changing our setup very much after the good pressure we showed last game. It will also be a bit of an unknown for the Bombers as they, along with all the other teams in the comp set up to Max's taps most of the time and accept a negative, covering attitude at the center bounces and, to a lesser extent at stoppages around the ground. Without Max there they will need to adjust to their ruck winning more taps and their mids will need to be more aggressive at the ball rather than trying to negate our mids. It may open up the work around the stoppages for us a little. I am sure we are doing a lot of work on all of their possible rucks to put in place a few options as to setup to ensure we get some good clearance numbers. Around the ground I think we can cover them. It will again require a lot of thought and planning to work our way around this but the basic nonnegotiable is that we bring the pressure for 4 quarters and force the turnovers. Force the turnovers and nail the transition with speed and being clean by hand and foot. B: Lever, May, Bowey HB: AM-W, TMac, McVee C: Langdon, Oliver, Windsor HF: ANB, JVR, Pickett F: Melksham, Fristch, Chandler Fol: Fullerton, Viney, Rivers IC: Salem, Sparrow, Tholstrup, Turner, Verrall - sub Yep... I know no Petty, and Verrall as sub. The forward setup last week worked as good as it has all year and I think it would be a good thing to give it another run. Petty at Casey for mine. We do not seem to use the sub as an aggressive move at all. It may be an evolving role for all teams but I think this may work for us. Fullerton as main ruck with Turner as back up. Those two can rotate between ruck and forward as required. As long as we do not have any injuries we bring on Verrall half way through the 3rd quarter for either of them. We get to see what he has at this stage and a fresh set of legs to run the oppo ruck around a bit more.

Agree with this. Noticed it at the time and was surprised by the warmness.